Abdallah al-Hassan’s Critique of “Blogging the Qur’an” and his slander of Ahmadiyyah

 Along with all the talk of Islam undergoing or needing reform or a re-reading of the texts from every edifice of the internet all the way to Turkey, There are some unnecessary points being made, and also some vital points being missed.

Take, for example, the recent project undertaken by Zia-uddin Sardar through which he ‘asks’ some questions and invites answers from those who claim to be in the know, as well as offering his own admittedly ‘academic’ opinion.

This received commendations and standing ovations from advocates of ‘modern islam’ or ‘moderate islam’ from all over the world.  However, it also received, and continues to receive intense criticism from the Muslim intelligentia, and those who advcoate a ‘traditional route to analysing the texts’ only by those who are well versed with the texts themselves and their relative interpretative methodologies.

A certain Abdallah Hassan wrote a strongly worded letter to Zia-uddin Sardar making known his grievances here: http://maqasid.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/blogging-the-quran-letter-to-ziauddin-sarda/

I have to say although I complement Zia-Uddin Sardar on his stance in defence of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in face of the persecution and vitriolic abuse that Ahmadi Muslims suffer from certain elements of the Islamic Community, I must disagree with him and Madeleine Bunting on their approach of “interpreting the Qur’an” purely with their thoughts and intellect and without recourse to the classical methodologies which are necessary pre-requisites for the understanding and exposition of the Qur’anic verities and subtleties.

What is the Shari’ah?

In the aftermath of the media-frenzy over the comments made by the Archbishop of Canterbury about the possible inclusion of certain aspect of the Shari’ah or the Islamic Law into English Law, it was observed by many commentators and academics that the media had, for the most of it, been totally ignorant of the concept, definition, remit and application of the Shari’ah.

There is much information on this topic from both reliable and non-reliable sources. 

See here for a good basic introduction of the Shari’ah and its essential sources that constitute it, aswell as a brief introduction as to the application of the Shari’ah and what it is designed to achieve.

 (If the link does not work, you can download the article directly here: The Shari’ah – an introductory glimpse into the divinely ordained path)

For other interesting articles, also see:

http://www.alislam.org/whats-new.html

http://www.alislam.org/library/articles/